This invention relates to windshield washing apparatuses and, in particular, to universal windshield washer apparatuses particularly adapted for marine craft such as pleasure boats.
Marine craft, such as pleasure boats, are not as commonly equipped with windshield washers as are, for example, automobiles. It would be desirable to equip many such craft with windshield washers to counter the effects of salt spray and other contaminants which diminish visibility and present safety problems. However it is difficult to retrofit many such craft with equipment commonly available on the market.
Various systems have been developed for washing windshields of marine craft. For example, in some systems spray nozzles are mounted on the undersides of windshield wiper arms. This means the necessity of purchasing a wiper arm specific to a particular type of spray nozzle. Furthermore, it is difficult to retrofit craft with such systems. For example, on power boats over 30 feet in length, the majority of windshield wiper motors are mounted above the tops of the windshields. This would necessitate mounting the water reservoirs somewhere along the tops of the windshields. In practice this is difficult or impossible to accomplish in many cases. The reservoir essentially would be hanging from the ceiling of the main cabin in view of the people on board and would block the view from the windshield in some cases. If the reservoir were mounted below the windshield, then the distance from the reservoir to the spray nozzles would be too long.
In some cases windshield washer systems for marine craft require water to be poured directly into the top of the reservoir. This means that the reservoir must be mounted in a location where the top can be conveniently accessed. In practice it may be difficult to find a suitable location. If the top of a reservoir cannot be accessed, then the reservoir must be removed for filling. Again this is an inconvenient operation requiring disconnection of hoses and electrical connections.
In other systems there is no reservoir, but rather a solenoid in the pressurized water supply line of the boat for a boat so-equipped with a pressurized water system. This makes the windshield washer system dependent upon the water supply system of the boat. Not all boats have pressurized water systems. Also it may be difficult to fit such a system to an existing marine craft since the water supply lines may not be readily accessible.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,861 to Northrop et al. discloses a window anti-icing/deicing apparatus and method. The fluid can be directed to different window surfaces including side windows, the windshield and rear window of a vehicle. However the different windows, or different areas of the vehicle, cannot be targeted separately. There is but a single pump.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,384 to Lopez et al. discloses a spraying device for jets of windshield washers in motor vehicles. The device includes a fixed body and a spraying body which are coupled coaxially to each other and to a nozzle body attachable to the body work and are connectable to a cleaning liquid tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,462 to Chen shows a wide-angle, atomizing-type of cleaning device for the windshield of a car. It includes a nozzle body and a universal ejector.
The prior art however does not provide an apparatus which is suitable for retrofitting many marine craft and, at the same time, which is adapted for installation in new craft during construction. Nor does it provide a solution to many problems encountered such as separately spraying different window areas. In particular the prior art does not reveal a reservoir capable of mounting on surfaces having different orientations, nor locations where the reservoir cannot be readily accessed to be filled.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved windshield washer apparatus for marine craft which can be readily retrofitted to most marine craft and is also suitable to be installed in new craft during construction.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved windshield washer apparatus which has a reservoir capable of mounting on surfaces and members having different orientations.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved windshield washer apparatus where the reservoir can be mounted in a relatively inaccessible location, but conveniently filled.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide an improved windshield washer apparatus having spray nozzles which can be adjusted to spray from different directions to accommodate different mounting surfaces and locations.
In accordance with these objects, there is provided, according to an embodiment of the invention, a windshield washer apparatus for marine craft which includes a reservoir container having a bracket pivotally connected thereto. The bracket can be connected to vertical, horizontal or sloping surfaces on the marine craft while the container remains level. There is a pump mounted on the reservoir. A filler fitting has a connector for mounting the fitting on a surface of the marine craft remote from the reservoir. A first conduit connects the reservoir to the filler fitting. The apparatus also includes a spray nozzle and a second conduit for connecting the pump to the spray nozzle.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided marine craft having a plurality of windshield surfaces and a windshield washing apparatus for washing the surfaces. The apparatus includes a reservoir container having a bracket pivotally connected thereto. The bracket can be connected to vertical, horizontal or sloping surfaces on the marine craft. There is a plurality of pumps mounted on the reservoir container. There is one pump for each windshield surface. A filler fitting has a connector for mounting the fitting on a surface of the marine craft remote from the reservoir container. There is a spray nozzle adjacent to each windshield surface. A filler conduit connects a filler fitting to the reservoir container. There is a plurality of discharge conduits. Each discharge conduit connects one of the pumps to one of the spray nozzles.
The invention offers significant advantages compared to the prior art. The reservoir can be located at many convenient locations within the marine craft, including mounting surfaces in different orientations such as above, below or to one side of the reservoir. In addition the reservoir does not have to be readily accessible. The reservoir can be filled through the remote fitting which can be placed in a more convenient location such as on the front deck of the marine craft. A plurality of pumps can be connected to the reservoir to provide separately controllable supplies of liquid to different window areas.